


The Impossible Journey

by chasethewind



Series: Dribbles and Drabbles [17]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Major Character Injury, Survival, Survival Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-23
Updated: 2014-09-19
Packaged: 2018-02-10 03:30:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2009253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chasethewind/pseuds/chasethewind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Looking back on it now, Oliver quickly began to regret even suggesting survival training, let alone agreeing to take Felicity along with him after Diggle had bowed out, citing a feverish infant. Turning on his heels, Oliver watched in shock and horror as her tiny body tumbled down the embankment. He was powerless to stop it. Instead, he stood paralyzed by the unrelenting fear that consumed him as his friend, his partner, the woman he secretly loved, continued her downward roll, bouncing off one tree before hitting another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thatmasquedgirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatmasquedgirl/gifts), [AsKillianWishes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsKillianWishes/gifts).



> I've been working on this story for almost 3 months now. Unfortunately, with the semester being a bitch and a half, I haven't finished it yet. I guess you can say this is a teaser, but it this is all that happens with it, I'm okay leaving it. Just don't be asking for more, please? I've got a hell of a lot on my plate right now.
> 
> This fic is dedicated to thatmasquedgirl and askillianwishes on Tumblr for all the help they've given me these past couple of weeks. Hope you enjoy it!

One wrong move was all it took. As soon as he heard the branch snap behind him, he knew it was too late. Turning on his heels, Oliver watched in shock and horror as her tiny body tumbled down the embankment. He was powerless to stop it. Instead, he stood paralyzed by the unrelenting fear that consumed him as his friend, his partner, the woman he secretly  _loved_ , continued her downward roll, bouncing off one tree before hitting another.

His heart seized in his chest. Of all the ways he thought he'd lose her, this one hadn't even crossed his mind. Looking back on it now, Oliver quickly began to regret even suggesting survival training, let alone agreeing to take Felicity along with him after Diggle had bowed out, citing a feverish infant.

Yes, they'd packed enough supplies and navigational equipment to make sure they would get out alive if anything bad happened to them, but Felicity had been carrying the pack with all the electronics. Watching her bounce and roll with it on her back caused Oliver's stomach to drop to his knees.

"Felicity!" he desperately called out to her once she finally reached the bottom, her body having limply rolled to a stop against a tree just on the edge of the river. Fear gripped him and held on tight when she didn't respond.

Oliver knew he couldn't wait. He grabbed the rope tied around his waist and quickly looped it around a tree before rappelling down into the ravine. It took significantly more time than it would have if he'd followed her path, but better safe than sorry, he thought. Oliver spared no expense when it came to Felicity's life. There were at least three back up plans in place if she went on a mission. But this time, he didn't have any.

'Idiot,' he berated himself on the slow descent. 'Why didn't you think about this happening? Didn't you learn anything on that god-forsaken island?' A groan suddenly echoed from his fallen comrade and Oliver sped up, pushing his legs off the side of the hill as he let go of the rope, making sure not to hit any trees in the process or get tangled in any branches.

Once he'd finally made it to the bottom, he practically ran to Felicity's side, skidding to a halt on his knees where she lay in a crumpled heap on the riverbank. "Felicity," he roughly whispered, emotions clogging his throat as his hand reaching out to brush away the hair that had fallen into her face. Blood clung to the long, blonde locks and he could taste the bile rising from his stomach..

That not so distant night flashed in his mind. Images of her sprawled out in the overturned van, unconscious and bleeding from a massive laceration on her temple made Oliver's heart nearly stop. His hand pushed back more of her hair revealing a similar injury, this time on the other side of her head, along with several more scrapes and bruises all over her face and neck. "Felicity," he whispered again, pressing his fingers against the pulse point in her neck to feel the steady beat of her heart, "Felicity, wake up. Please, Felicity, open your eyes."

Another flashback, this time from over a year ago, released another rush of horrifying images that he'd never forget: Tommy propped up on a concrete block, a thick piece of rebar sticking out of his chest. The image of his best friend suddenly became superimposed on the woman laying propped up against a tree beside him. Oliver immediately went to check and make sure she had no similar injuries.

The hem of her powder pink polo shirt was yanked up to reveal nothing but creamy skin turning sickening shades of black and blue beneath. Overwhelmed with relief and guilt, Oliver continued to check her body for any other significant injuries. With her head, neck and torso already cleared, his eyes and hands traveled down her arms. The left was definitely broken, most likely a compound fracture of the ulna and radius from the way it was bent at an awkward angle. He was going to have to splint that until they were rescued.

There didn't seem to be anymore glaring injuries, but Oliver knew there could be other fractures and possibly internal bleeding. He'd have to monitor her every half hour for signs of those, but right now, her arm needed his full attention. He grabbed the medical supplies out of his pack, rummaging through them until he found gauze and tape. Since they were running on the bare minimum to save weight, Oliver improvised a splint by using several sticks that were roughly the same size and thickness.

Just touching her broken arm elicited a painful groan from Felicity. At least she was still somewhat conscious, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief. Gently maneuvering the bones back into place had her whimpering in agony. It was a sound Oliver never wanted to hear again. He sped up, doing his best to cause her as little physical pain as possible while he wrapped the gauze around the sticks then taped the end.

With the splint fully covering her forearm, he moved on to make a sling out of an extra t-shirt he had in his pack. Securing it around her neck, he grabbed one more thing from the first aid kit: a bottle of smelling salts. It was wafted under her nose for just a moment before Felicity finally came to.

"Ol'ver?" she mumbled through the haze. "Wha happen'd? Where 'm I?"

Gently stroking his hand along her bruised face, he smiled at her hoping to keep the fear and guilt at bay. "You fell," he simply answered. She moved to get up but yelped in pain. "Whoa! Easy," Oliver said, placing a hand on her uninjured shoulder. "Just sit still."

Glancing down at her arm, Felicity asked, "Oliver, what happened? Why is my arm in a sling?" She was now fully awake, her eyes shooting to his for an explanation.

He sighed heavily. "You broke it in the fall."

The look of pure terror crossed her bruised features. "Oh, no," Felicity breathed before frantically reaching behind her with her good arm and searching for her pack. "No, no, no!" she cried when she couldn't find it.

Oliver's hand came up to cradle her cheek in an attempt to calm her. He knew exactly what she was looking for. "It's over there," he mumbled, pointing to his left. Halfway down her tumble, the pack had flown from her arms, rolling a few hundred feet away from where she landed.

"Bring it to me!" Felicity practically shouted, the panic evident in her voice.

Scrambling to his feet, Oliver did as he was told, retrieving the pack from where it lay and bringing it to her. She frantically pulled open the zipper then reached inside. "Oh, no," she whispered, her voice shaking. As she retracted her hand, several bits of broken plastic and wires came along with it. Tears fell freely from her cheeks as her hand dropped limply to her side.

"Shh, it's okay," Oliver tried to comfort her. He wrapped his arms around he waist, pulling her into the warmth of his body as she shook with the force of her sobs.

"How are we supposed to get home now?" Felicity bawled while burying her face into his shoulder.

"Don't worry," he whispered into her ear. His hands stroked up and down her back in an attempt to ease her mind. "I'll get us home."


	2. Part 2

Oliver stood up then turned to gently wrap his hand under her good arm. As he slowly lifted Felicity to her feet, she stumbled and let out another sharp cry. He immediately lowered her back down to the ground and asked, "What's wrong?" Fear and guilt permeated his voice, something he hoped she wouldn't notice.

"My… My leg," Felicity whimpered.

"Left or right?" Oliver was kneeling down beside her once more, first aid kit out and ready.

"Right."

His fingers skimmed down her khaki-clad leg, gently probing until he reached her knee. A single touch was all it took for her to hiss and cringe in pain. Oliver pulled back immediately, grabbing the hem of her loose pant leg and dragging it up until he could see what was wrong. Felicity's knee was swollen to the size of a softball.

"Shit," Oliver muttered under his breath.

"Oh, my god! What's wrong with my knee?" she cried, the fear and panic evident in her voice.

"You probably bruised it in the fall," he said, shooting for comfort and reassurance but ending up still sounding just as distressed as she did. Oliver reached into the first aid kit for the three inch wide roller bandage before ever so gently lifting her leg into his lap. "This is probably going to hurt," he warned.

"Do what you have to. I'll be okay," Felicity reassured him as her hand fell to his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. A tiny smile worked its way onto her pale pink lips and he nodded his head.

Taking a breath, Oliver began wrapping the bandage around her knee as Felicity's nails dug into his shoulder, holding onto him for dear life. Without heavy painkillers, it was all she could do, and he let her, never once complaining about how much it hurt. No, what really hurt was seeing her in so much pain.

The guilt that came with knowing it was his fault for bringing her to this place burned heavily in his chest as he rolled the bandage round and round her knee until there was none left. Oliver fastened it with a pair of clips that came with the roll then pulled her pant leg back over the injury. "We should probably find somewhere to build camp for the night," he said, placing the empty carton into his pack. It was slung over his shoulder effortlessly before his arms slid beneath her neck and knees.

"Whoa!" Felicity nearly shouted prompting him to stop just short of lifting her. Their eyes met, hers full of confusion and his full of resolve. "What are you doing?"

"I'm carrying you until we find a good place to settle for the evening?" Oliver replied, sounding just as confused as she did.

"Hey, I can walk!" she protested, but when it came time to actually getting up off the ground, every attempt failed miserably. "Okay, maybe not," Felicity conceded as she slumped back in defeat. Her entire body seemed to crumble then, folding in on itself as her stubborn resolve dissipated right in front of him. Left was only the shell of her usual self, hollow and empty.

Oliver kneeled down beside her, his hand coming to rest against her bruised cheek. "Hey," he softly whispered, "we'll be okay. Five years on an island, remember?" She gazed up at him, blue eyes brimming with unshed tears, and nodded. Arms returning to her neck and knees, he carefully lifted her off the ground, mindful of her injuries.

"Promise me," Felicity murmured once her head was nestled beneath his chin.

With all the conviction he could muster, Oliver replied, "I promise I'll get us out of here."

Then they were off, down the ravine, twisting and winding with the river as it flowed from the mountaintops. The only trail was a thin line most likely made by animals. Oliver followed it through jutting rocks and underbrush, looking for any clearing that would allow them shelter for the night. High up above, the sky turned dark as clouds gathered on the horizon. A storm was coming, one he could feel with a deep aching in his bones.

For someone who was constantly babbling, even after being shot in the shoulder, Felicity was strangely quiet as they continued their trek. Oliver glanced down to find her head still resting against his shoulder and her eyes shut. Fear gripped his heart for a moment and he stopped, praying that she was just sleeping and not something worse.

When her head bobbed and she glanced up at him with weary eyes, he let out a relieved sigh. "Why did we stop? Are we staying here tonight?" Felicity asked, gazing at her surroundings. "Looks a little rough," she mumbled a moment later and Oliver couldn't help the chuckle that escaped from his lips. Yes, this area was definitely not suited for camping with all the sharp rocks jutting out of the ground.

"No, not here," he affirmed then resumed walking.

"I think it's gonna rain," Felicity said, glancing over his shoulder at the dark clouds gathered behind him.

"Most likely," Oliver answered. Just then, the sound of thunder rumbled down the mountain and his pace instantly quickened. "Shit," he muttered under his breath, throwing back a look to see what was coming.

The sky was black as night and the scent of rain permeated the air. Lightning crackled and thunder boomed nearly startling him into a run. His hold on Felicity tightened. The need to find shelter overpowered Oliver's senses, but there was nothing. Above him, the tree canopy began to rustle as the wind picked up. Droplets of moisture fell from the sky, landing in random spots around them.

Not even a moment later, the rain came down in a torrent. Oliver's pace turned into a full on run as he sought out whatever ledge or outcropping would provide them shelter. In his arms Felicity burrowed herself as close to his body as physically possible, but when she started to shiver, he knew he needed to find something that would shield them from the cold wind and water that was now soaking through their clothes.

"Over there!" Felicity yelled above the roar of the rain as it continued to pelt them from above. Her hand pointed to his left at a dark spot some fifty feet ahead. Oliver followed her finger and was relieved to see the cave she'd spotted. It was small and dark, but provided just enough protection from the elements until the storm passed.

Felicity continued to shiver once Oliver had finally brought them into the cool confines of the rocky crevice that could barely be described as a cave. It only went back about ten feet or so, but it was dry and much warmer than the rain outside. A few sticks and leaves lay scattered about; just enough kindling to make a fire.

He carefully set Felicity down on the smooth stone floor then reached into his pack to pull out the thick dark blue zip-up hoodie he'd brought just in case. There hadn't been a need for it the night before. The air had been warm and laden with moisture when they'd set up camp and stayed that way until the next morning. Oliver was glad he'd brought it even though it did add extra weight.

"Here," he said, holding it out to Felicity.

She stared at it for several moments. "No, I can't take it. You'll be cold," she argued, wrapping her good arm around her waist as another tremor rocked her body.

"Felicity, I'll be fine," Oliver replied with a reassuring smile he somehow managed to muster even though all he felt was guilt.

Hesitantly, she reached out with her good arm and took it from him. For a moment it sat in her lap as she stared down at it. Then her eyes darted up to his and she whispered, "Thank you." But her struggle was only half over. Putting it on was proving to be a challenge.

Oliver didn't hesitate. He threw it over her shoulders and had it zipped around her in no time. The hood was then pulled over her rain-drenched hair, cocooning her in warmth. "Sit tight," he said as he reached into his pack to pull out a flashlight. "I'll try to gather whatever wood I can and make a fire." She simply nodded and let him go about grabbing sticks and leaves, bringing them back to near her feet until there was a decent pile laying on the floor in front of her.

Exchanging his flashlight for a lighter, Oliver lit a couple of dry leaves and placed them on top of the wood. It wasn't long before they had a roaring fire in the tiny cave, keeping them warm from the cool air that rushed in from outside. He took a seat beside Felicity, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her into the warmth of his body. She didn't resist and allowed him to gather her into his lap so her head fell to his shoulder.

"How are you feeling?" Oliver asked once she was settled and comfortable.

"Like I've been run over by a bus," Felicity muttered without lifting her head. She pulled herself closer to him, her good arm wrapping around his waist as tremors continued to shake through her body.

"Hows your arm?"

"It only hurts when I move it, or when I touch it, or when someone else touches it. Nothing I can't handle."

Oliver could tell she was trying to hide her pain from him. The injuries she'd sustained in her fall were comparable to some of the injuries he'd had to endure on the island. An arrow to the chest, being sliced into by a sword, a gunshot wound to the abdomen; they all had their unique kind of hurt, but nothing was as jarring as a broken bone. He'd cracked ribs on several occasions which made it hard to breathe or walk, but a broken arm and a severely bruised knee were much worse.

It probably didn't make Felicity feel any better needing to be carried around either. Running to find shelter had most likely put her through hell, and that made Oliver's heart break. He hated hurting her, intentionally or unintentionally, and gazing down to find her eyes shut tight as she held onto his shirt for dear life nearly killed him.

"You're still cold," he noted when her nose brushed against his neck. It was freezing against his skin and he found himself rubbing his hands up and down her back to try and warm her.

"So are you," she replied just as a cold rush of air blew into the cave and caused him to shiver. But the fire was doing its job. Warmth radiated towards them making Felicity relax slightly as her head drooped lower. It now rested against his chest, her forehead pressed lightly into his neck.

Oliver felt every droplet of water that dripped from the tendrils of her wet hair. They tickled his skin, sending a whole new class of shivers running down his spine. He'd felt this way for so long, well before Slade's attack to be precise. And although he hadn't meant to utter those three pivotal words the night it had all gone down, he knew, deep down, he'd meant them.

This love he felt for Felicity, it wasn't new. Somewhere between "Hi, I'm Oliver Queen" to this moment, he'd fallen head over heels. Helena, McKenna, Laurel, Isabel, Sara; they'd all just been pit stops on the impossible journey that led him here, with his arms wrapped around the woman who owned his heart without ever realizing it. Every little thing that happened to her made him see, without a doubt, that he needed her.

But Oliver also saw all the hurt and the pain he caused as well. The Tockman mission should have been a wake up call, but for some reason, it was this afternoon's events that finally opened his eyes. Watching Felicity tumble down that hill and lay there, still and unmoving, was an image he'd never get out of his mind. So he held onto her a little tighter, burying his face in the dark blue hood of his sweatshirt, his nose filling with the scent of her.

He didn't want to,  _couldn't_  think of a life without her. Felicity was the first person to ever see the human being behind the masks and walls he'd put up to shelter himself from the world. She had been the first to call him a hero, the first to believe in him, the first to tell him to keep going even when he wanted to give up. She was the proverbial light in his dark, dim world. If that light were ever to be extinguished, Oliver didn't know what he'd do with himself.

So he burrowed deeper into her warmth, one hand wrapped around her waist resting against the small of her back with the other cradling the back of her head. Mindful of her injuries, he slumped a little lower down the wall until they were both resting comfortably in each other's arms. Then Oliver let his eyes droop shut, adopting the cautiously optimistic outlook Felicity always had and thinking that everything would be okay come morning.

That was far from the case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review! It feeds the muse!


	3. Part 3

A muffled cry woke him just as the sun peeked over the horizon. Oliver's protective instincts kicked in, his arms tightening around Felicity, but the cry turned into a sharp, pain-filled scream. It only took him a moment to realize it was coming from the woman who lay against his chest. Her face was pressed into the crook of his neck as her fingers dug into the skin along his side.

"Felicity?" he panted, his hands immediately reaching up to cup her face. The hood covering her head had fallen sometime during the night revealing disheveled locks of blonde hair sticking to her forehead from a sheen of sweat. As Oliver tilted her face up, he could see the agony etched in every little wrinkle and line. Tears streamed down her cheeks as her eyes squeezed tightly in an effort to stave off the unbearable pain.

"Felicity, what's wrong?" he asked in a panic as he tried to look her over for anymore injuries he might have missed the previous day.

"It hurts," she wept, "so much." Hearing the agony in her voice made the vise around his heart squeeze so tight Oliver thought he was having a heart attack. "I wanna go home. I just wanna go home," Felicity repeated over and over again as he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

"Soon," Oliver whispered. "Very soon. I promise." He ran his hands through her matted locks and rocked her back and forth in hopes of comforting her someway. A bottle of aspirin lay nestled in the first aid kit amongst the bandages and suture kits, but that would barely make a dent in the amount of pain Felicity was in. He'd try anything, though, so he reached for his pack and pulled it out along with a bottle of water.

"Here," he said, shaking two pills into his hand and holding them out to here. "They won't work as well as Dig's special aspirins, but something is better than nothing."

"I know he gave me hydrocodone," Felicity deadpanned. It wasn't as poignant considering she sniffled as she said it, but Oliver understood. "And I know that stuff isn't going to work, but I'm willing to give it a shot." She took the pills and proffered water, downing them in one gulp, then let her head roll back against his shoulder.

"How's your knee?" Oliver asked. His hand roamed down her leg trying to assess whether it was just as bad as her arm.

"It still hurts, but not as bad as my arm," Felicity said. He simply nodded and the silence stretched on for some time.

"Are you hungry?" The low rumble of her stomach prompted the question and Oliver realized that they hadn't eaten dinner the night before.

"A little," she replied.

Oliver reached into the pack and pulled out two energy bars. Since their trip was only supposed to last until this morning and they'd been catching their meals from the river, it was all they had left to eat. "Here," he said, giving one to her. "We'll eat then head downriver again. We should be close to civilization. It's probably another half a day's walk from here."

Groaning, Felicity nodded but didn't voice her displeasure. Oliver knew she hated being carried. The night of Slade's attack proved that. As soon as she'd been able to, she'd asked to be allowed to walk on her own. He had obliged, but only because his injured knee had begun to protest. Today there was no possibility of her walking, so he'd carry her for however long it took them to find their way back out of the wilderness.

They ate their breakfast in silence, then Oliver stomped out the last burning embers of the previous night's fire before hoisting Felicity into his arms. The terrain smoothed out somewhat at this section of the river, allowing him to quicken his pace over rock covered beaches. But it ended abruptly when they reached a steep hundred foot drop straight down. Had Felicity not been injured, they would have stopped to admire the waterfall, but they needed a way down.

Oliver grumbled under his breath, surveying the outlying forest until he spotted another animal trail deep in the underbrush. With a resigned sigh, he began to make his way down the narrow trail, avoiding swaths of poison oak whenever possible, but using his body as a shield when he couldn't in order to keep Felicity from touching it. He'd be in hell the rest of the day, but it was better than making her suffer more than she already had.

The winding path took them far away from view of the river, but Olive reasoned if he could still hear it rushing in the distance, it wouldn't be hard to find again. So he kept moving, periodically looking down at the bundle in his arms to make sure she was comfortable and usually finding her asleep with her head resting against his shoulder. Relief spread through him when he realized she wasn't in as much pain as she'd been in that morning. It was one less thing to worry about as they made their way through the woods.

An hour passed, then two, and Oliver began to get the distinct feeling they had lost track of the river somehow. When had the rush of water become the rustle of trees? The question plagued his mind as he tried to find his way back only to end up deeper in the forest. How had his tracking instincts let him down? For the first time since the day he became stranded on the island, Oliver felt an overwhelming sense hopelessness and despair. He had promised Felicity they would make it out of there by sundown, and now it appeared they'd be spending one more day in this hellish place.

With light fading behind the tall mountain peaks, Oliver needed to find a place to set up camp for the night. But being so deep in the woods, there weren't many options, so the first open spot of dirt he came upon became their home for the night. Setting Felicity down gently against the trunk of a tree nudged her awake.

"Ol'ver?" she mumbled, her bleary blue eyes opening just a fraction to gaze up at him. "Are we there yet?"

His heart broke immediately upon hearing her question, but he couldn't lie to her. "No," Oliver whispered as his hand reached out to cup her cheek. "We, um… We have to stay one more night." The tears that gathered at the corners of her eyes took his broken heart and shattered it completely. "I'm sorry," he brokenly added, trying to swallow back the lump in his throat while stroking away her falling tears with his thumbs.

"I just wanna go home," Felicity quietly sobbed.

Gathering her into his lap, Oliver wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as she cried against his chest. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," he murmured over and over, a mantra that was not only meant to soothe her soul, but his as well. But it didn't work. They merely sat there, crying in each other's arms as daylight faded into night.

Half an hour later, the sobs had ended and Felicity lay unconscious against his shoulder, her fingers still clinging to the fabric of his t-shirt. Oliver knew he needed to get a fire going, but there was no way in hell he would allow himself to disturb her much needed rest. He had a feeling the following morning would be a repeat of the last one, with her crying out in pain until he awoke to calm her.

It was a price Oliver knew he was going to pay, over and over again, in his dreams from then on out. The sound of her beautiful voice crying out in agony was a sound he'd never forget. Even now it haunted him as he sat there, holding her in his arms. It reminded him that she wasn't like him or Diggle or Sara or Roy. She wasn't physically strong. In that way she was fragile, but what she lacked in physical strength she made up for in the way her mind worked. A genius with the face of an angel, Sara had told him once a long time ago. She couldn't have been more right.

Staring down at his fallen angel, Oliver let out a deep sigh as he reclined into the rough bark. He tried to close his eyes and get some rest, but every time he did, he'd hear that cry ringing in his ears. No matter how many times he'd fall asleep, he'd awaken with a start, that phantom sound ringing clear in his nightmare. And every time he looked down, he'd find Felicity curled into him, her head nestled against his chest as she slept soundly.

At one point during the night, after he'd awoken in a cold sweat fearing she was writhing in pain above him, Oliver realized that the shivers he felt weren't caused by pain, but by the cold. He reached over into his pack and pulled out one of the t-shirts he'd worn the previous days. Although it was dirty and smelled like perspiration, it was all he had to keep Felicity warm. The overnight temperatures had dipped sharply and were most likely bottoming out at around fifty degrees, a huge leap from the eighty degree weather during the day.

The last thing Oliver wanted was for her to end up with hypothermia. He was used to the cold temperatures from his days on Lian Yu, but Felicity had no such acclimation. So he held her a little tighter, his arms cradling her back as he rubbed his hands in circles to give her what warmth he could.

He sat awake for hours, listening to the sound of her breaths mixing in with the rustle of the wind through the trees above their heads. After a while, it became his lullaby, softly rocking him to sleep until the first light of morning appeared on the horizon. It wasn't a cry that woke him this time, it was whimpering and sharp, panting breaths from what appeared to be a nightmare.


	4. Part 4

The clock on the wall read 6:07AM, but that wasn't what had Diggle worried. It was the lack of communication he'd received from Oliver and Felicity over the past few days. They should have arrived at the Foundry at four the previous afternoon, but there was no sign of them. For several hours he'd tried to reach each one via cell phone, but all calls were forwarded to their voicemails.

There was a sinking suspicion at the back of Diggle's mind that something had gone horribly wrong during their hike and that Oliver and Felicity were quite possibly stranded, or, god forbid, injured out in the woods somewhere, but he refused to think about it. Oliver was a master in that element after the five years he spent on that island, but even masters had their weaknesses, and his was a certain blonde IT tech that happened to have tagged along after Diggle's son had gotten sick. Now he cursed himself for letting them go without support or backup. It might not have been a mission, but survival training wasn't easy.

Oliver had promised to take it easy out there, but considering it was three days later and he still hadn't arrived back, all Diggle could think about was a worst case scenario where one or both of them were injured and had no way of getting back to the civilized world. That single thought propelled him off his stool and straight for Felicity's bank of computers.

He wanted to check the trackers Oliver made them all plant in their shoes and see if he could get a signal. Maybe he'd get lucky this morning and find them making their way back. But the computers were currently running updates, forcing Diggle to sit back and wait it out until they were done. The status bar at the bottom on one screen read 23%. Below it was the estimated completion time: 6hr 52m 47s.

With a resigned sigh, he thought maybe now would be a good time to call in reinforcements. Pulling out his phone, Diggle dialed the one person he really didn't want to get involved.

* * *

 

Oliver's hand came to rest against her cheek as he softly whispered her name, "Felicity." When her fingers dug into his shirt, holding onto it for dear life, he tried again. "Felicity!" he said with a little more urgency this time. She took in a sharp breath and her eyes popped open.

Her good arm wrapped around his neck as she buried her face in his shoulder. "Oh, thank god," Felicity gasped, hugging him close until her breathing evened out and her heart stopped racing. "You're okay," she whispered.

"Of course I'm okay," Oliver murmured against her hair as his hands rubbed up and down her back, calming her further. "You were just having a nightmare. I'm right here and I'm okay. Don't worry."

"It was such a stupid nightmare too," Felicity replied, slowly letting go of him. "You were being eaten by a mountain lion. Wait… Are there mountain lions out here? Because if there are…"

"Shh," he hushed her softly. Although her assumption was true, Oliver wasn't about to let her know that. "You're safe. I'll protect you."

"That's what scares me," she muttered. "How am I supposed to get home then? Speaking of home, where the hell are we? Last I remember we were walking along the river and now we're in the forest again. Oliver, are we lost?" His mouth open and shut several times in search of the right way to let her down, but it was clear Felicity knew. With a resigned sigh, she added, "Let's just keep moving. We're bound to find a way out of here somehow."

Oliver was at a loss. The hopelessness and despair he'd felt the previous day came back worse than ever. This was all his fault. If he hadn't suggested this stupid trip, Felicity would be home right now enjoying marathons of her favorite TV shows while eating mint chip ice cream straight from the carton. "I'm sorry," he murmured, burying his face in the side of her neck to hide the pain and disappointment he felt towards himself.

Again, she knew. She always knew. Felicity seemed to have a sixth sense about his mood and pulled away to find the broken look in his eyes before he could mask it. "Oliver," she whispered. "This is  _not_ your fault. I  _chose_ to come with you. What happened yesterday was a freak accident. Neither you nor I could have prevented that. Well, I probably could have if I hadn't been so focused on not trying to get hit in the face by tree branches, and… Oh, my god! What's wrong with your arm?!"

With a reaction like that, Oliver immediately glanced over to where her eyes had settled and found the reason for her outburst. An angry red rash covered a good portion of his arm from where he'd brushed past poison oak the previous day. "Shit," he muttered under his breath. He'd been ignoring the sting and the itch since they'd made camp last night. It was one of the things he was good at: ignoring pain.

Had he known he was allergic to the stuff, Oliver would have avoided it at all costs. Seeing just how bad the rash was, he knew they were in trouble. But that was the last thing he'd tell Felicity. If anything, he'd carry on as if it was nothing until they finally reached civilization. Only then would he seek medical attention unless it didn't severely incapacitate him first.

"Is there calamine lotion in the first aid kit?" Felicity asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Oliver nodded before reaching for it. Rooting around, he found the lotion beneath the gauze pads and began to open the bottle on to have it snatched out of his hand. "Here, let me," Felicity said while pouring a small strip of the pale pink liquid onto his skin. Using her good hand, she gently began spreading it out all over the rash until it was completely covered. Wiping her hand on her already soiled pants, she flipped the cap closed and handed him back the bottle. "That should at least help with some of the discomfort until we get back."

A small smile spread across Oliver's lips as he gazed down at her. "Thank you," he said before moving her off his lap and setting her down on the ground beside him. "We should probably get going," he added, throwing the pack over his shoulder then bending down to lift Felicity back into his arms.

"You think Dig might have called in a search party?" she mused. "I mean, we were supposed to be home yesterday. I can see him losing it right now, worried out of his mind. Maybe we'll get lucky and he finds us out here."

Oliver nodded but didn't reply. He knew the odds of being found out here in the remote wilderness were slim. Having been stranded for five years taught him that. But at least this time he had the advantage. Every single pair of his boots had a GPS tracker, just in case something like this ever happened out in the field. After Malcolm Merlyn, it had become a necessity. He hoped Felicity was right, that Diggle was searching for them, but aside from knowing their general area, Oliver hadn't really told him much else about the hike.

They had just begun their trek through the woods when the rustle of the trees caught his attention. The sky was turning a shade of grey Oliver had come to associate with nothing but trouble. Another storm was brewing, and this time the only shelter they had was the tree canopy.

"You have got to be kidding me," Felicity groaned from his arms as she tightened her grip around the t-shirt still draped around her. "Have we seriously become the world's two unluckiest people? Because that's what it feels like to me. We just can't catch a break!"

It was the truth. Oliver knew shitty luck. He'd been on the receiving end of it for so long he stopped keeping track. Large, fat drops of rain fell through the openings in the leaves, landing around them as he walked through the underbrush and along the thin animal trail winding its way through the trees. Getting wet was inevitable, so there was no use in running now. He trudged through the thickening mud as the rain fell harder, his body arching forward in hopes of keeping Felicity slightly drier.

"This sucks worse than the time my friends and I got stranded on the side of the road in a downpour with a flat tire driving home after a concert in New York. I'd seen a gas station half a mile back and decided it would be a great idea to walk to it in the pouring rain because none of our cell phones were working. I ended up catching a cold that lasted for over two weeks," Felicity rambled as she buried her face in Oliver's shoulder.

"What about you?" she asked before realizing the gravity of her question. "No, don't answer that. I shouldn't have asked. I'm sorry."

Oliver sighed. "It's okay," he said. They walked in silence for several minutes before he finally found the courage to answer. "I'd only been on the island for a few hours before ending up with an arrow through my shoulder."

Her gasp made him pause for a moment to look down. Wide blue eyes stared up at him from behind droplet-spattered glasses as Felicity's mouth hung slightly open. It was the first time he'd freely told her anything about the island and his experience on it. Oliver realized the significance. Back when he'd first returned home, Thea had told him, point blank, that he needed to find someone to confide in. At first he thought it could be Laurel, but things were never right between them.

It wasn't until Felicity had wiggled her way into his life that Oliver realized she was the only person that he could ever tell his secrets to without feeling judged. For a long time, he'd contemplated sitting her down and just explaining it all to her, from beginning to end, but the opportunity never seemed to present itself. Now, here they were, walking through a forest much like the one on Lian Yu, and suddenly he found himself confiding in her. That single admission led to another, then another, and another, until he'd basically explained away his first two years in that god forsaken place.

Felicity listened with rapt attention, her eyes never leaving his face as he talked about all the horrors he'd experienced. She remained silent, never asking questions, never interjecting with some kind of witty remark; she just  _listened_. And for the first time in a very long time, Oliver felt the weight finally lift off his shoulders. The burden of keeping the atrocities of the island to himself were slipping away, bit by bit, like the droplets of water that trickled down his skin.

Oliver would have continued, but for the past hour he'd slowly begun getting more and more tired, and now the shortness of breath was forcing him to slow down he swayed slightly, his shoulder coming to rest against the trunk of a tall sequoia.

"Oliver?" Felicity asked, her voice rising an octave in alarm.

"I just… need to catch my breath," he panted. Pressing his back firmly against the tree, he stood there for a moment taking deep, labored breaths. The calamine lotion that Felicity had applied to his arm hadn't done the trick. He needed something more in order to tame this allergic reaction, but all they had in the first aid kit was some mild antihistamine that would only make him drowsy.

This was seriously turning into the survival training trip from hell. There were no good options at this juncture. If Oliver took the antihistamine, they'd have to stop here and rest for a couple of hours in the pouring rain and risk hypothermia. If he didn't take it, the possibility of death loomed over his head. Either way, this was a dire situation with dire consequences. He slid down the tree trunk and came to rest against the muddy forest floor.

"Oliver, are you okay?" Felicity asked, her voice edged with panic.

"Benadryl," he gasped, his breaths becoming even more labored. What the hell was going on? Never in his life had Oliver ever been in this much trouble with an allergen. If anything, he'd end up with a runny nose and the sniffles or just a rash, but this poison oak reaction was by far the worst he'd ever had to deal with. Not only was it affecting his breathing, but the burning sensation down his arm had gotten steadily worse. He could no longer ignore the pain as it crept up his shoulder and along his side.

"You're gonna need more than Benadryl for this," Felicity said as she reached for her pack. Using her teeth and good hand to unzip it, she rummaged through all the broken electronics until she found a small hard plastic box that hadn't been damaged in the fall. "Yes!" she cried, doing a little first pump before throwing the lid open in a rush and grabbing one of her emergency EpiPens from inside.

Oliver felt only slight discomfort when she jabbed it into his thigh and shot the life saving medicine into his body. "Sorry," she muttered when he let out a slight grunt in response. The discarded injector was placed back into the box and the lid was shut before being thrown inside her pack. "Now we wait," Felicity said. Her hand rose until her fingers fell against the pulse point in his neck.

"How did you know?" Oliver asked, immediately feeling the tightness in his throat dissipate. He could breathe much more easily now and sat back against the tree.

"The same thing happens to me when I accidentally eat peanuts. My throat starts to close up and it gets harder for me to breathe. Even though I didn't think we'd encounter peanuts on this little camping trip of ours, I figured it would probably come in handy if, say, some ended up being allergic to poison ivy," she answered.

"Poison oak," he corrected.

"Same difference. They're both start with 'poison' so…"

Oliver simply smiled as he relaxed against the tree trunk. The relief that spread through him knowing that Felicity had packed her EpiPens was palpable. It was the first thing to go right since her fall. He could only hope that things would start to look up from there on out, but he had his doubts. Just because one thing went right didn't mean everything else would. False hope was something he refused to give in to. There had been many times he had, and it burned him in the end, so he knew to be cautious.

"Get some rest, okay?" Felicity said as she stroked her thumb across his jaw. It felt nice as drowsiness began to spread through his senses. "You look like you didn't sleep much last night." Oliver nodded and closed his eyes. He felt her lean into him, her head burrowing into his shoulder as her hand remained against the side of his neck feeling the strong beat of his heart beneath her fingers.

"Oliver?" she murmured into his rain-soaked shirt.

"Hmm?" he replied as he wrapped his arms around her, bringing her in as close as physically possible.

"Do you think Dig will find us if we can't get out of here?"

Just then, the raindrops that had been falling from above their heads began to lessen. The steady roar of the storm quieted and the forest soon stilled.

He took a long, deep breath, his arms tightening around her when he felt a shiver shake her body. "He's found me before. I'm pretty sure he'll find me again," Oliver said with confidence. If the storm was easing, then maybe, just maybe, Lady Luck was finally looking down on them.


	5. Part 5

 

A single chime from the bank of computers pulled Diggle out of his phone call. He turned sharply to find a new prompt on the screen. "Updates complete. Please restart." The urge to do a fist pump hit him harder than ever, but he refrained, clicking OK to restart the system as he was asked. Felicity would probably kill him for touching her babies without her permission, but in this case, he had a feeling she'd be okay with it.

It took less than a minute to reboot the system and have it fully operational again. Diggle took a seat at the desk and began typing commands, pulling up topographical maps of the state park Oliver mentioned just before he left then zeroing in on possible campsites. Not knowing how to pull up current satellite images like Felicity did, he focused on getting a signal from the trackers she and Oliver had in their shoes.

The first search yielded no results. Diggle let out a frustrated grunt but he wasn't deterred. He kept searching for his partners even as the door to the Foundry slammed and a set of footsteps echoed down the metal staircase.

"Where's the boss man?" Roy asked when he appeared at Diggle's side, glancing over his shoulder at the bank of monitors he sat in front of. "And does Felicity know you're touching her babies?"

"They still haven't come back from survival training," Diggle replied.

All traces of Roy's playful remarks were wiped clean off his face as he took a seat beside his friend. "They didn't come back last night?" he asked, his body turning rigid.

"Nope. I'm looking for them right now. Hopefully I can get a trace on Oliver's tracker, but so far I've got nothing," Diggle said.

Roy heaved a deep sigh. "I hope they're okay," he replied. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Unless you know how to hack into a government database, there's not much either one of us can do right now," Diggle answered, letting out a sigh of his own. He continued typing, searching, praying for a miracle as silence settled in the lair.

"Damn," the younger man muttered.

After an hour of fruitless searching, Diggle's phone began to ring. He immediately picked it up without looking at the caller ID. For several moments he sat quietly and listened to the person on the other end then grabbed a pen and paper to scribble something down. "Yes, where?" he then asked, and made another note. "Great. Thanks Lyla. Love you. I'll see you when I get back." He shot up off the chair, grabbing his jacket before heading up the stairs, paper in hand.

"Hey, what's going on?" Roy asked, trying to keep up.

"Lyla used her contacts at ARGUS and managed to find them. There's a rescue helicopter waiting for me at the helipad on top of Starling General," Diggle said as he threw open the door and rushed into the abandoned club.

"Wait! I'm coming with you!" Roy called out as he tried to keep up.

"No, you're staying here," commanded Diggle. "If you want, wait for us at the hospital, but you can't come with. Someone's gotta hold down the fort." He was gone before Roy could argue.

"I never get to do anything fun," he grumbled.

* * *

 

The rotor blades of a helicopter were what woke Oliver several hours later. For a moment he thought he was imaging the sound, just like he'd imagined Felicity's screams the previous night. Looking up, he could see the large craft looming above their heads through the canopy. From it, a person in an orange vest began to descend on a rope.

"Felicity?" Oliver rasped as he shook her shoulder. "Felicity, wake up." But she wasn't waking up. She lay motionless in his lap, only the quick rise and fall of her chest indicating that she was still alive.

For several moments Oliver sat frozen just staring at her. What the hell had happened while he was asleep? Panic rose in his chest as he brushed a few strands of hair away from her face to find her skin cold and clammy to the touch. "No," he whispered just as the man in orange cleared the last few tree branches and hit the ground. "Open your eyes, Felicity. Please," Oliver begged as tears threatened to spill from his eyes.

"I have never been more glad to see you two!" came the deep, booming voice of their partner as he walked up to them. The smile that had been present on his face turned into a frown immediately upon seeing the state they were in.

Oliver didn't have to say a word in order for Diggle to understand something was wrong with Felicity. It was written all over his face. The panicked look in his eyes told his partner they needed to hurry, and Diggle immediately hoisted the tiny woman into his arms, carrying her to where he'd landed. He signaled to the crew and a second rope was dropped from the helicopter, this one attached to a basket.

Within a matter of minutes, Felicity was secured and hoisted up, leaving only the two men on the ground. "Let's go, Oliver!" Diggle shouted to him over the roar of the rotor blades.

But Oliver didn't move. He couldn't; not when he knew this debacle was his fault and that Felicity's life hung in the balance because he thought survival training would be a good idea. The guilt ate him up on the inside, but when he felt Diggle's hand grabbing him, dragging him to his feet, he stumbled and got up.

Oliver was hazy on what happened next. One moment he was on the ground and the next he was in the helicopter laying on a stretcher beside Felicity as the crew frantically worked to keep her alive. She looked so fragile and pale laying there, her expressive blue eyes shut. It made his heart clench in his chest to see her that way. Felicity wasn't supposed to look like that. She was supposed to be lively and vibrant and constantly in motion. But she wasn't. Instead, she was impossibly still, and it scared him.

Without hesitation, Oliver reached over, his hand seeking out hers until they brushed against one another. Intertwining their fingers, his thumb fell against the pulse point in her wrist to feel it beat weakly beneath. He needed that tiny bit of contact to keep him tethered to her, to still his racing heart.

No matter how hard he tried, Oliver couldn't swallow back the guilt he felt for putting her in this position. It had gone from gnawing at him to full out eating him alive. The pain of having to watch the woman he loved go through what he'd put her though… Oliver couldn't forgive himself.

"It's not your fault, man," Diggle said from somewhere above him. He glanced up to find his friend sitting just a few inches from his head.

Oliver simply stared at him for a moment before his gaze turned back to Felicity. There was an oxygen mask now covering her mouth and nose, helping her breath. He swallowed back the sob threatening to escape his throat as he watched her until the EMT's focused their attention on him. They maneuvered around the hand he still had tangled with hers, checking for injuries and finding the large rash from his reaction to the poison oak. Oliver was asked about how he got it and did his best to explain what happened. A few medications were administered through an IV placed in his arm, causing his eyes to droop before finally closing.


	6. Part 6

It took a while for Oliver to regain consciousness, and even when he did, his eyes found it hard to open. He floundered in that in between state for what seemed like hours, slowly regaining his senses. There was a hand wrapped around his, holding it tight as another stroked his temple. A floral scent wafted past his nose, one he knew but couldn't place at that moment.

"F'lic'ty?" he murmured, thinking of the woman who the scent might belong to. It was a blissful moment, one where he forgot all the evils in the world, until it came crashing down the instant he heard a voice reply.

"Ollie." It was but a whisper, one close enough to his ear that he could feel her breath fan out against his skin. She wasn't the woman he hoped was holding his hand.

"Sara?" Oliver replied, forcing his eyes to open. He gazed up at the blonde sitting in the chair beside his bed, relief etched on her weathered face. She gripped his hand a little tighter as she gave him a small, albeit warm smile.

"Hey," Sara said, her free hand reaching out to cup his cheek.

The warmth that radiated from her palm instantly put Oliver at ease, but his mind continued to focus on the other blonde he wished was at his side. He desperately tried to remember what landed him in the hospital this time. Was it a run in with a particularly nasty villain? Had he been involved in an accident?

It wasn't until he glanced over at Sara to see the sadness in her pale blue eyes that it finally hit him: survival training gone wrong. Panic flared in Oliver's chest. The last thing he remembered was waking up to find Felicity unconscious in his arms just as Diggle reached them by helicopter. "Where is she?" he demanded before attempting to throw off the covers only to find his body too weak to respond.

"Felicity's just getting out of surgery," Sara gently explained, remaining as cool as a cucumber even though he could see it in her eyes that she was anything but.

"What happened to her?" Oliver asked.

Taking a deep breath as her eyes flicked away from his, Sara took a moment to center herself before turning. What Oliver saw staring back at him was fear and uncertainty. He tried to steel himself for whatever she was about to tell him, but nothing could have prepared him for the agony he would endure. "Both her ulna and her radius are broken. The doctor had to do emergency surgery in order to repair the fractures with plates and screws. Her knee is a mess: dislocated patella, partially torn tendons, fractured tibial plateau. No surgery needed for that, she'll just be in a brace for a few months," Sara explained before pausing to take another deep breath. "But that's not what the doctor is concerned about."

Oliver stared at her, watching, waiting for the inevitable bomb she was about to drop. "Whatever happened to Felicity out there caused a blood clot to form between her brain and her skull. The doctor says that's what caused her to lose consciousness. He had to drill a hole into her head to drain it," she said.

A tear rolled down Sara's cheek as the tightness in Oliver's chest returned with a vengeance. He shook his head, unable to believe what was happening. This was all his fault. He'd been the one to bring Felicity on that stupid survival training mission. He'd been the one who failed to keep his eyes on her. He'd been the one who wasn't paying attention when she'd fallen down the ravine. And now he was the one left to suffer for his carelessness.

Oliver's heart hurt worse than he thought possible. So many things had been left unsaid between them. That trip had been his chance to tell her his real feelings, but he'd failed at that too, clamming up at even the thought of saying those three words he'd uttered a few months earlier. Oliver had always thought himself unworthy of love after what had happened on and off the island those five years. But after defeating Slade and continuing to make the city safer, he began to see that maybe there was more to life than just being the Arrow. Maybe he could be Oliver Queen, best friend and boyfriend, too.

But that dream had been ripped out from under him the moment Felicity fell.

"Oh, Ollie," Sara whispered as she swooped down and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. For a moment he lay motionless, too shocked to move. Then his shoulders began to shake and the hot river of tears that had dammed behind his eyes burst. He buried his face in her neck, his arms wrapping around her shoulders holding onto whatever comfort he could find. "She'll pull through this, Oliver. I know she will. Felicity's a fighter."

He wanted to believe Sara, but after all the heartache he'd experienced during the course of past five days, Oliver couldn't bring himself to have that cautious optimism anymore. It hurt him deep down in his soul, tearing away every last bit of hope he'd had until there was none left.

"It's my fault," he murmured over and over again as Sara rocked him gently.

"It's not your fault," she whispered. "Accidents happen. You're not responsible for everything, Oliver." Then he began to feel lightheaded and drowsy again, his eyes growing heavy.

Had he known Sara would press the button that administered morphine into his system, Oliver would have stopped her immediately. But he hadn't. She was stealthy like that. When Sara let go, gently laying his head back on his pillow, she brushed her lips to his forehead. "I'm sorry, Ollie," she said when their eyes met. "You need to rest and this is the only way you'll get it. You're dehydrated and suffering from exhaustion. There's no point in letting you worry about Felicity too. Let me, Dig, and Roy worry, okay?"

"Damn you," Oliver mumbled before falling asleep again.

* * *

Sara gently closed the door to Oliver's room behind her and stepped out into the hall where her other two partners were waiting.

"How'd it go?" Diggle asked.

"As expected," she said, letting out a resigned sigh.

"He didn't take it very well, did he?" Roy interjected as he leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest.

"He blamed himself, as usual, then I gave him some morphine and knocked him out before he worried himself into an early grave," Sara replied. "How's Felicity doing?"

"Still in recovery, but her vitals look good, so they should be bringing her up to her room in half an hour," Diggle answered.

"You made sure to tell them to bring her here, right?" Sara asked in an almost panicked tone. "Because you know Oliver's going to bolt the second he's able."

"Yeah, they know," he reassured her, his hand reached out and falling to her shoulder. "They're actually going to bring him up to ICU instead of taking Felicity here. The doctor thought it was an odd request, but considering the Queens built half this hospital, he's letting it slide."

Sara gave him a sharp nod in acknowledgement. "Good to know the Queen name isn't completely tarnished," she said.


	7. Part 7

When Oliver's eyes fluttered open again, he found himself in a different room from the previous one. The sound of a heart rate monitor beeped softly from somewhere nearby and the lights were dimmed to a comfortable level allowing his eyes to adjust quickly. He turned his head expecting to find his partners, but what he saw made his breath catch.

In the bed beside him lay Felicity, her left arm wrapped in bandages, her right leg encased in a brace, and her head covered by white gauze that nearly matched the pale color of her skin. A tube spotted with blood ran from her head along the gauze to a bag hanging from her bed as another hung from her nose, feeding her oxygen.

Throwing the covers off his body, Oliver swung his legs over the side of his bed and gingerly stood up. When the IV in his hand became a hindrance to his movements, he pulled it out, not giving a damn about himself at that moment.

He was at Felicity's bedside barely a stride later, his eyes focused on her still form. Looking at her now, he could see she was even paler, her face devoid of makeup and her lips a shade of pink so light that they nearly faded in with the rest of her skin. Her usually bright blue eyes were shut, not a flutter of movement behind them.

Oliver reached out, his hand tentatively coming to rest against the side of her face to find it warm to the touch. His thumb stroked along her cheek, stopping just short of her lips. A shuddering sigh escaped his lungs, holding back the torrent of emotions at war in his head: guilt, fear, sadness, comfort…  _love_. God, he loved her, more than he ever thought possible, and he couldn't stand to see her like this.

"Felicity," he murmured, bending down so her name was whispered in her ear like a prayer. "Please… Please wake up. Please be okay. I need you to be okay. You can't leave me. I…" Oliver swallowed back the lump that suddenly formed in his throat. "I don't know how to go on without you. You're more than my partner. I… I love you. Please don't leave me…  _Please_."

Tears slid down his cheeks as Oliver pressed a kiss to her temple. Then he moved around to the other side of her bed and took a seat in the armchair beside it. With the utmost care and delicacy, his fingers wrapped around her good hand and pulled it to his chest, mindful of the tubes and wires hanging from it.

It was how Diggle, Sara, and Roy found him an hour later.

"Ollie, you're… awake!" Sara exclaimed, the shock present in her voice as she slowly approached him.

He held up his hand, a stern expression on his face. "Don't," Oliver rasped, his eyes staring daggers in her direction. She stopped immediately, holding up both arms to let him know she wasn't going to do anything unless he said so.

"Can I at least take care of your hand?" she asked, pointing to the dried blood running down his left wrist.

Oliver glanced at it before his eyes flicked back up to hers. "Fine," he growled.

It didn't take Sara long to clean and dress the wound left by the needle. He was done in less than five minutes. She retreated to join Diggle and Roy off in a corner as Oliver sat beside Felicity, his focus strictly on her.

He stayed there for the rest of the night, keeping vigil by her side, only letting her hand go when he needed to use the restroom or to eat something. Diggle returned around dusk with a change of clothes, Oliver's cell phone, and Felicity's tablet "just in case you get bored" before turning to leave.

"I know this might not be your style, but maybe try talking to her," he suggested before stepping out the door. "And if you don't want to do that, I know she's got several books on her tablet you can read to her." Oliver studied his friend for a moment before nodding. "Her favorite is  _Romeo & Juliet_, by the way." Again Oliver nodded. A moment later Diggle left the room, and the ever-deepening silence returned.

Oliver was in no mood to talk that evening. Too many things weighed on his mind, and the last thing he wanted to do was unload them to an unconscious Felicity. He decided to go the book route, logging into the tablet and pulling up her eBook reader. Just as Diggle had mentioned,  _Romeo & Juliet_ was the first selected work on her list. He tapped the screen and opened it to the first page.

It all sounded silly, the words that echoed off his lips into the quiet room, but the longer Oliver read, the more engrossed he became, even if he had a hard time pronouncing some of the words he came across. He did his best for Felicity.

A nurse walked in as he was beginning act two, forcing Oliver to stop for fear of being laughed at. But the nurse paid him no mind. She simply smiled at him with kind eyes while checking Felicity's vitals and noting them on her chart. When she left, making sure to close the door behind her, he continued with act two.

_"But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?_  
 _It is the east, and Juliet is the sun._  
 _Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,  
_ _Who is already sick and pale with grief…"_

Oliver paused to stare down at the words he'd just read. He couldn't help noticing that the lines seemed to have been written for this very moment. There was no doubt in his mind he was probably misinterpreting them, and he didn't care, but they resonated into the depths of his soul.

Felicity was the sun and he was the moon, sick and pale with grief as Shakespeare put it. She lit up his world, shining bright like a beacon in the darkness of his cold, cruel existence. Oliver wanted nothing more than for her to wake up. It didn't matter if it was now or a week from now, he just needed to see her open her eyes and smile back at him like she always did. He needed her light to keep him from sinking back into the darkness.

Putting the tablet down, he reached out to stroke her cheek again. His head dipped towards the bed, and he whispered, "Please, Felicity, if you can hear me, let me know you're there." His emotions were running high; higher than when Tommy died, higher than when his mother died. A solitary tear ran down his cheek to fall where her hand rested in his. Oliver closed his eyes and sent out a silent prayer in English, in Russian, in Mandarin. Hell, he would have done it every single language if he knew how.

The slight twitch of her finger had his eyes popping open. Oliver stared down at her, wondering if it was his imagination playing tricks on him. It had happened before, but when her finger twitched again, his breath caught in his throat. "Felicity?" he roughly whispered, his hand gripping hers a little tighter as the other lifted to cup her cheek.

His thumb stroked the delicate skin along her cheekbone, encouraging her to keep fighting. When she squeezed his hand, he choked out a delighted sob and pressed his lips to her forehead. "That's my girl," Oliver murmured. "Keep fighting. Open your eyes. Let me know you're here."

And she fought for well over an hour. He whispered soft words of encouragement as he squeezed her hand with every little victory and stroked her cheek, reminding her he was there and that he wasn't leaving. When those soft, crystalline blue eyes finally fluttered open, Oliver's smile was the first thing they saw.

"Hi," he whispered, his voice cracking under the weight of his emotions. He knew tears were falling down his cheeks, but they were happy tears, relieved tears.

Felicity blinked a few times before her eyes focused on him. They stared at each other for several long moments, and for a second he feared she didn't recognize him. His heart was ready to shatter into a million tiny shards until she replied, "Ol… ver?"

"Yeah," he breathed, relief flooding through him as he smiled back at her. "It's me. I'm here."

"Where 'm... I?" Felicity was weak, still struggling to wake up from the effects of the head injury combined with the anesthesia from her surgery.

"The hospital," Oliver said.

She sighed and smiled. "We made it?"

"Yeah, we made it home. Just like I promised."

A soft laugh escaped her lips as she said, "My hero. Always saving me."

"Always," Oliver whispered with a smile before he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He noticed Felicity's eyes beginning to droop and added, "Get some rest."

"Okay," she murmured, nestling into her mountain of pillows. When his hand slipped from her grasp, her eyes popped open again. "You're leaving?" Felicity asked in almost a panic.

"No," he replied, his voice soft and gentle as he grabbed her hand once more. "I'm just going to move my chair closer." Oliver grabbed the piece of furniture with his free hand and dragged it so he was able to sit right beside her bed, his hand never leaving hers in the process. Felicity visibly relaxed as a content smile settled on her pale lips.

"Will you still read to me?" she asked, glancing over at him with sleepy eyes.

He stared back at her, surprised. "You heard?"

"Yeah. You were at my favorite part when you stopped." Felicity then yawned before sinking deeper into her pillow. "And listening to you read  _Romeo and Juliet_  is probably my new favorite thing."

There was no stopping the grin that crawled across Oliver's lips as he sat back in his chair and grabbed the tablet from where it lay on the bedside table. Picking up where he left off, he read through the next six scenes without pausing and only stumbled on a few words he had to squint at in order to understand. By the time he reached the end of scene seven, he glanced up to find Felicity's eyes closed.

_"Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow,  
_ _That I shall say good night till it be morrow._

_"Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast!_  
 _Would I were sleep and peace, so sweet to rest!_  
 _Hence will I to my ghostly father's cell,  
_ _His help to crave, and my dear hap to tell."_

Oliver put the tablet back down and rose from his seat. Without letting go of her hand, he pulled the covers up to Felicity's chin then leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. "Good night," he whispered before kissing her one more time. "I love you."


	8. Part 8

The clock on the waiting room wall read 8:00 AM on the dot, and both Sara and Diggle stood from their seats, leaving a sleeping Roy to rest. They couldn't blame the kid. None of them had slept that night waiting for news on Felicity's condition. The only person who knew was already at her bedside and he wouldn't be leaving it anytime soon. So they patiently waited in the ICU waiting room after visiting hours ended until the next morning.

Around seven, Sara had gone out to grab them all some breakfast. By the time she'd returned, Roy was dead to the world and Diggle was on his last legs if he didn't get any coffee soon. A double shot of espresso and he was ready to go.

The pair walked down the silent, empty hallway until they reached Felicity's door. Pushing it open, they were shocked by the sight that greeted them. Oliver was no longer seated in the chair he had occupied the previous night. Instead, he lay curled up against Felicity's right side, his head on her shoulder and his arm thrown across her waist. Her right hand was clasped in his, fingers intertwined. They faced each other, her lips pressed to his forehead, their eyes closed in sleep.

Sara's jaw dropped as she stared at them, a look of pure joy spreading out across her features. Beside her, Diggle folded his arms over his chest and simply smiled. They both had been waiting a long time for this moment, knowing that supposedly fake "I love you" just before the final battle with Slade wasn't an act.

Reaching into her pocket, Sara pulled out her phone and snapped a quick photo, one she would have printed and framed as their wedding gift. "I think it's safe to say she's going to be fine," Sara whispered.

Beside her Diggle nodded. "We should probably come back later," he said before backing out of the door. "Let them rest for a few more hours."

"Yeah, we'll come back after  _we've_  had rest for a few hours," she replied.

They made their way back down the hall, but just before they entered the waiting room, Diggle turned to her and asked, "Should we tell him he won the bet?"

Sara thought for a moment. "Nah! I'd like to hold onto my money for a little while longer. Besides, the second Roy finds out he won, he's going to rub it in our faces," she answered.

"Good point."

* * *

Oliver awoke to sunshine and warm breaths puffing across his forehead. His eyes opened just a sliver and he found himself staring at the soft curves of Felicity's neck. A smile crept onto his lips as he snuggled closer. She had woken up in the middle of the night in the midst of a terrible dream. Immediately upon hearing her cries, he'd wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight until she settled.

"Please don't let go," Felicity had whimpered against his chest when he tried to pull away.

"I won't," he had simply replied before sliding beneath her sheets and wrapping himself around her. With a sigh, her hand had found his and closed around it. They held onto each other for the rest of the night, falling asleep to the sound of the other's breathing.

Oliver could feel her hand still in his as he shifted slightly. For a moment, he forgot about the island and all the horrors he'd experienced on it. He forgot about the continued pain and strife he endured in the years after his rescue. His focus was on the woman beside him and the tiny hand he held. How had he gotten so lucky to find her?

For five years, all he could think about was coming home to Laurel and trying to salvage the relationship he'd sabotaged when he brought Sara on that boat. But when he finally returned, Oliver realized that she'd changed just as much as he had. They were two different people living two vastly different lives. No matter how hard he tried, all he did was screw things up between them more and more.

Maybe meeting Felicity was Fate's way of saying, "Enough already." Falling for her had come so effortlessly, so easily. She was his little ball of sunshine, always there to brighten his day with her inappropriately worded rambles and colorful outfits. Where it had taken him years to even admit he loved Laurel, it had only taken months with Felicity, and that was probably what caught him off guard.

It also scared Oliver to no end, loving someone the way he loved her. This wasn't the safe, familiar love he'd had with Laurel. No, this was the kind of love that built slowly before exploding into a supernova and overtaking his life in ways he never thought possible. It was the neverending type of love found in fairy tales, one Oliver didn't think he could handle or deserved.

But here he was, his heart on his sleeve for the whole world to see, finally ready, finally willing to give it a chance. And what had he done? Almost ruined it by nearly getting Felicity killed on some idiotic training mission. Oliver cursed himself for being so stupid, even though he now knew she would be okay.

"You think too much." Felicity's raspy voice immediately knocked him out of his thoughts.

Oliver glanced up to see her smiling down at him. "No one's ever accused me of doing that before," he wryly replied.

"Maybe because they don't know what your thinking face looks like," she said, still holding that tone of playfulness she'd woken up with.

"And you do?"

"Of course I do! I know what your thinking face looks like. I know what your angry face looks like. I know what your confused face looks like," Felicity answered. "I also know what your happy face looks like even though it's a rare sight. I like that one the best." There was no stopping the smile that crawled across Oliver's lips as he gazed up at her, awestruck by how she could so easily pull him away from his disastrous thoughts and put him in a better mood. "Mmm, there it is," she added, a smile gracing her pale pink lips. "So what were you thinking about?"

Oliver sighed. He didn't know whether to tell her or not. On one hand, he could lie and say he wasn't thinking about anything, but he knew Felicity would see right through it. She'd seen through all of his lies. On the other, he could tell her the truth, but that scared him far more than anything else.

"Hey," Felicity whispered, her hand wiggling out of his and coming to rest against his cheek. His eyes drifted shut when her thumb began rubbing along his jaw. "Talk to me, Oliver. Tell me what's wrong."

With a deep sigh, he replied, "I almost lost you."

When he opened his eyes again, he saw that same soft smile gracing her lips. "But you didn't," Felicity pointed out. "I'm right here, a little worse for wear, but I'm here and I'm safe, and it's all because of you." He was about to launch into his practiced spiel about how dangerous it was to be with him when her fingers came to rest against his lips.

"I know what you're going to say. I know you want to pin what happened out there all on yourself, but you shouldn't. Accidents happen. What if it hadn't been falling in the woods? What if I'd been hit by a car crossing the street? Or if I slipped and fell on a wet floor? Would you take the blame for that?" she reasoned. "Of course you wouldn't. You couldn't. So I want you to promise me you'll stop blaming yourself."

Oliver was reluctant at first, but seeing the soft look in her eyes and her calm resolve had him blurting out, "I promise."

And there was that glorious smile again. "Thank you," Felicity whispered. "You have a good heart, Oliver Queen. Remember that, because I always do." Her fingers traced over the contours of his face, and a sudden calm settled over him.

He wanted to reach up, to cup her cheeks and press a kiss to those tantalizing lips, but Oliver refrained. Instead, his brain-to-mouth filter malfunctioned and he said, "I love you."

Her smile dropped immediately. They stared at each other for a long time. As the silence stretched on, Oliver began to curse himself for being such an idiot. Then Felicity whispered, "It wasn't for show, was it? You… you actually meant it..." She searched his face, her eyes filling with tears.

"I meant it," he said, his voice conveying the sincerity of his words.

"You…  _love_ me?" she asked, managing to sound both confused and surprised at the same time. "Actually love me? Not as a friend, not as a partner. You  _love me_ , love me?"

That's when he smiled again and took her face in his hands. "Yes, I  _love you_ , love you," Oliver confirmed. "I am  _in love_  with you." He stroked his thumb beneath her eye as a solitary tear ran down her cheek. When she returned his smile with a watery one of her own, he leaned forward and finally pressed his lips to hers. It was a soft, tender kiss that lasted for a couple of seconds before he pulled back to gauge her reaction.

"I amend my last statement," Felicity said.

"What do you mean?"

"You know how I said I liked your happy face best?" Oliver nodded. "Well, I think I like your in love face even more." He let out a hearty chuckle before pressing his lips to her once more.

Out in the hall, Diggle, Sara and Roy were making their way out of the elevator. They'd all gone home for some well deserved rest and had come back that afternoon to see how their friends were doing. Just as they reached the door, Diggle abruptly stopped, nearly forcing his partners to collide with him if they hadn't been paying attention. He stood stock still, his eyes slightly wide as they peered through the little window into the room.

"What's going on?" Sara asked, the concern clear in her voice until a smile cracked on his lips.

"Take a look," he answered, stepping aside so they could peek in as well.

"Oh, my god," Sara giggled like a little girl on Christmas day. "Maybe we should just leave them alone."

Roy simply rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm gonna see if I can somehow burn that image out of my brain," he said as he began walking away from the door. "And guys," he added. Both Diggle and Sara turned to watch his retreating back. "You both owe me fifty bucks."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is FINALLY complete. I'm so glad y'all liked it. Definitely was a labor of love. Thanks for sticking with me. I'm hoping to have something new for y'all to read soon, but we'll see.


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